K-State women win despite poor 2nd half

Friday

MANHATTAN — The Kansas State women’s basketball team earned its fifth win of the season Friday against Mississippi Valley State, 64-57, in a game of two completely different halves.

The Wildcats opened up the first half in rhythm from behind the 3-point line. Haley Texada and Brittany Chambers hit their first four of five attempts from beyond the arc in the first four minutes to give the Wildcats an early 14-0 lead.

The Wildcats shot just less than 50 percent from the field in the first half, including making 7 of 17 from 3-point range en route to a 43-21 halftime lead.

Chambers was near perfect in the first half, making 7 of 8 from the field including 5 of 6 from behind the 3-point line for 19 first-half points.

The Wildcats offensive efficiency dropped drastically in the second half, as they shot 20 percent from the field, and Chambers was held scoreless until she hit a deep 3-pointer with 5:53 remaining in the game.

"They played tougher. They started to play more physical," said Chambers, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds. "We weren’t taking smart shots though.

"They were tougher than us in the second half."

Chambers said the veteran leadership was absent for the Wildcats during the second half.

"Young players are going play like older players if older players step on the floor and play slow," Chambers said. "Our first group set the tone in the second half, and it was terrible."

The Devilettes cut the Wildcat lead to four points but couldn’t fully overcome the first half deficit.

"A big part of competing is learning how to bring consistency and holding yourself to a high standard day-in and day-out, possession-in and possession-out," coach Deb Patterson said.

The Devilettes struggled early and often offensively in the first half, as their first points came near the 15-minute mark of the first half. The Wildcats’ defense kept the Devilettes from getting into a rhythm, as they shot below 28 percent from the field in the first half.

The second half, much like the Wildcats, was much different for the Devilettes as they shot 48 percent from the field.

"We won by virtue of the score," Patterson said. "But I don’t think we won by virtue of our standard competitively, in terms of how we need to compete. Our percentages in the second half are reflective of the level that which we accepted that we would compete."

Texada, in her second career start, added 12 more points for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats’ next matchup will be against Wichita State on Tuesday in Wichita.

Texada said she likes that the next game is only a few days away, especially after the Wildcats’ second-half performance.

"Of course we don’t have as much time to practice, but we could step out the next game and kind of redeem ourselves," she said.